After Death Never Parting
by Roaniegal
Summary: Mufasa and Sarabi were in love in TLK. Was it arranged? Were they always that way with each other? Find out in a multiple chapter story detailing them from young adulthood to reuniting at death. Rated Mature for adult situations. Request for a birthday
1. First Meeting

Request for Arashi-wolf-princess, for her birthday on August 30th. I am so sorry it is late. I was without internet then ended up in the hospital after a miscarriage, but that's still no excuse. I am sorry for it being late, and since I failed to get it in on time it will be a multi-chapter fic. My apologies again.

NOTE: USING HUMAN YEARS.

Mufasa groaned as he paced at Pride Rock, earning an amused glance from his mother, Uru. "My son, why are you so troubled? Were you not aware it takes eight suns' time to complete a betrothal agreement, and then two suns' time of travel to get here? You must be patient. Your father will be home in his sweet time, with the youngest princess of the Land of Waters yours to claim. Your grandfather is finding Taka his own bride."

"_Scar_. Not Taka. Scar." Mufasa snarled, fire lighting his eyes at his brothers first given name.

Uru only shook her head and turned away. She had no clue what had happened between her sons, but it was theirs to resolve. Her boys weren't cubs anymore, or even teens. Theirs manes had sprouted years ago, and now covered all but the lowest chest and belly. They were young adults, and they would either get over it or get used to it.

"MOTHER! Is that Papa? Is it? Can you see if she...the princess...is with him?"

The excitement of her son snapped her attention to the horizon where she signaled her answer with her tail and then laughed as her son bounded and sprang from the rock, racing as if his tail was lit aflame, to his father and the young princess, skidding to a halt and stopping just before reaching his destination.

The young princess lifted her head, and upon seeing that a large, golden mass was headed toward them, she lifted her head and looked down her nose, knowing this must be the prince she was sent here to pledge herself to in matrimony. He slowed down dramatically, putting off a regal air as he held his head up high, whiskers twitching and ears flicking forward in an open, welcoming signal. His paws lifted a bit higher as he stepped slowly towards the group, his ruby eyes ever inquisitive as he looked her over with respect, and turned to his father. Two nods were exchanged and then the rusty golden lion jerked his dark ruby, not quite black, mane forward and the rest of the group of lionesses followed the king and left the two alone.

"So...you, you're the...the, um...princess?"

His nervous question jolted her and she nodded, forcing her face to remain neutral. "Yes, I am. My given title is Regent Princess of the Lowland Waters, but I suppose you may call me Sarabi. And yours?"

"High Prince Mufasa of the Pridelands, declared the Future King, but you may call me Mufasa."

As custom, they bowed to each other in show of respect.

A few weeks later, she watched as the great ceremony was beginning. Today, she would tie herself to a lion she did not know, or love. But by doing this, she would tie her kingdom to another, make it stronger. Sighing, she turned to the one female she had been able to form a relationship with in the pride, that lioness being Queen Uru. The sky blue eyes of the crimson lioness sparkled at her soon to be daughter-in-law, and she smiled in an encouraging way. She brushed her fur against the princess and spoke to her, by a whisper into her ear.

"Dear Sarabi. You don't need to be so worried. My son is a quiet lion who doesn't share many feelings, but when he loves, he loves deep. And child, he loves you."

"How...how do you know that? I...I mean, do I want his love? Love in an arranged marriage? This is only to unite our kingdoms and have a child to further unite them. We only need that. Love makes it dangerous, love makes you care...and love is what gets you hurt, My Queen."

Uru nodded and wrapped her tail around the young lioness and lifted her ears to the many sounds that surrounded them with the ceremony nearly underway. "I had those feelings once, too. Mine were a tad different, but the sentiment the same. My father abandoned our family, leaving my mother to rule and raise me alone. Then, she passed when I was still a young child. My mother's sister had to rule until I was of-age. I had no faith in males. The one I should have trusted beyond everything betrayed my mother and I. Males had sought to harm my mother in a horrible way and in fighting the monsters off, she had no strength left to survive.

When King Ahadi strutted in and asked me for my hand in marriage, I accepted only because I needed cubs to continually run my kingdom. I despised being wed for the same reasons you have, but after a few months, when new life blossomed in me in the form of my twin sons, the both of us changed. We found harmony. There had been naught but vows tying us, and then there was more, to our marriage than sleeping on the same rock. Our sons saved our marriage. Ahadi and I have been married in the true sense of the word for many years. This year will mark the thirtieth year since our vows, and we have not regretted that day since. Your and Mufasa's time will come, young one. That I promise."

Sarabi was silent for a while. "You are right, Uru. Thank you. I will wait before I judge his character. I suppose I must go. Thank you, Uru."

The ceremony was long, long and bothersome. The end was still the same. She and Mufasa were greeted by The Golden King and Russet Queen as the new heir and heiress of the kingdom. Prince Scar was there to greet his brother and new sister, droll voice and uncaring attitude present as well. He would assist the King to rule in their stead until they returned from the four day honeymoon they were presented with.

**END: FOR NOW.**


	2. Marital Life

The newly crowned princess and her mate traveled for a day and a half, and Sarabi had to wonder exactly where they were going. Suddenly, the orange lion in front of her halted, and she followed the motion, arching an eyebrow upon coming to a series of caves overlooking gorgeous green land, and her sunset eyes blossomed in wonder after a few seconds, realizing it wasn't a dream but a paradise.

"What..what is this place?"

At her awed tune, Mufasa grinned and turned his face toward his new wife. "I traded off some of our people for this plot of land. I hope you would...would...like it. It's your...ehm...wedding gift?"

She threw herself at her new husband, showering him in kisses. His shock at her sudden motion made him freeze, and at his stiffness she quickly withdrew herself and blushed profusely. He grinned and returned her affections, eager to show her he wasn't just some snotty prince or king to be but a caring individual capable of love. Suddenly, the slight incline they stood upon gave way and they rolled down the hill, laughing as Mufasa attempted to keep Sarabi safe from any real impact. Their laughter was soon abruptly shut off by choking noises as they all but flew into a pond, water filling their lungs. Fear filled Sarabi immediately, and she was grateful when her back feet scraped rocky surfaces and she threw herself out of the water and clawed her way quite literally to safe ground, shaking and crying as her fur now baked dry in the hot sun.

Mufasa himself had ended up deeper in the water hole, and he used his strong legs to power-swim to the banks, starting to grin but the expression falling off his face when he saw his wife sobbing into her paw pad. "Sarabi...what's wrong? Are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you? What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, and the tears fell even more as she gripped the dirt and started to shake harder still as she looked up into his ruby eyes. "I...I'm afraid. I'm sorry, I'm being irrational and stupid. I'm just going to go lie down in one of those caves and rest."

Mufasa's eyebrows knotted together at her abruptness and then making a quick decision, he blocked her, and as she lurched backwards to avoid hitting him her back legs splashed into the water and she screamed in utter terror, throwing herself forward and bending her paw in an unnatural way. Her scream at the sudden pain snapped Mufasa out of the shock he had gone into upon hearing her cry at the water's touch. He grasped her tightly, his paws grabbing into her wet but fluffy fur and bringing her attention to him. "Sarabi, Sarabi...please, please...what's wrong? Are you...afraid of the water? It can't hurt you, not while I'm here. I promise you that much. You've got to be open with me, honey. Please?"

She gasped, bringing herself to her senses after a few minutes. "When I was little...our pride was different, very different. My father would go away for months at a time and return later, and none of us knew where he went, only that he came back with a female's scent on his fur. My mother reigned as queen in between raising myself and my eleven siblings. I say siblings loosely, as only four were hers and the others cubs my father swore bore his blood but who were motherless. Most of these cubs were female, and stories were told my father ordered my mother to bear him a boy-cub the night I and my three sisters were conceived. The first time I met him, I was only two years old. He came in, raging that four princesses had been born instead of the male son he craved from Mother. She held her head high and he suddenly calmed, going away again after appointing my older half-brother Minkah to rule in his stead as he did every year. In two years' time he returned once more, bringing happy smiles with two young cubs trailing behind...those two being Sarafina and Mheetu. He claimed that they were now my mother's to care for, topping the number of cubs 'she' had at fourteen. Birthdays were _insane_...yeah. Well, regardless, he took myself and my three sisters to our outer watering pond. He had claimed to my mother he had changed his mind and perhaps female heirs were good for something, after all. She let us go since he had never, ever showed ill-will toward us.

Once there, he lined us up and took my twin sisters, who were conjoined twins, by the neck and slung them into a tree. They went unconscious. My other sister, Naanda, put up a fight but she met her end by a claw swipe to her throat. I fought too, but he controlled me by putting my head under water multiple times until I didn't care just as long as I could breathe...and then, he did things that I will never speak of, but I have never told anybody until you. I wish i could give you all of me, but I...I cannot."

Mufasa was still as he could be, and then Sarabi was met with a bone-crushing hug, and she just couldn't help but start crying into his shoulder. "I should have told you, Mufasa. I am sorry. I am, I am. But I couldn't tell, I just couldn't."

"Oh Sarabi. It's okay. I don't blame you. Where does your father reside now?"

"I don't know. After I turned fifteen he left and never returned. My brother Minkah rules my pride now, alongside his wife and two sons. When our future heir is one day born, he and I plan on co-ruling, and I will most likely make multiple journeys there to settle any large dispute that comes about. It wouldn't surprise me if Abiodun showed up here in the Pridelands one day, to find me. I never ran, but I surely wanted to. When he...when he would hurt me... he threatened my mother to keep me in line. I had to obey. I just...I ask that tonight you let us take it slow...Please?"

"I will let you decide when to cement our wedding vows. When you are ready, and only then, shall we take part in mating. I swear it to you. And if you would wish for your father to be found, to be brought to justice, then I will. I can give the order, I can send out scouts-"

"_NO_! Thank you, but no. He would...he would kill me. And if he didn't, the shame he would bring on me would be unforgettable, astronomical. He would bring out the sins that he made me take part in."

Shame covered her face that night as he lay beside her, looking but never coming close to touching. He would keep his word and respect her, and in the coming weeks as they returned to Pride Rock and their daily royal duties he continued to yield to her, and after almost three years of marital abstinence, she fled into his shoulder one night after his routine last night check of the perimeters. She was sobbing again, and she was somehow soothed by his strong silence, as he waited for her to calm before asking what happened.

Her beautiful orange eyes glistened with unshed tears and she tried to stop her voice from shaking. "I just...heard that my...my brother, Mheetu...he was murdered. And, and Sarafina...she's been kidnapped from the Pridelands outer borders. I have to find them, Mufasa. Please, give me leave. I must find her. She...she's my best friend."

Mufasa grasped her tightly and nodded. "Yes, Sarabi. I give you leave. I will also assist you in your search and be your protection. Give me a half hour to gather the pride, and our subordinate males will begin their search as the rest of us get details from you. Come, my wife."

That night, the pride searched high and low for the princess's family members. As dawn arrived at the ending of the third week, Sarabi found her sister alone, crying in a dark pit and begging the monster attacking her to stop. Without another thought, she slid down the walls made of dirt and dug her claws into the dark brown male, earning a shout of pain from him. As she landed, she turned and let out a warning snarl. He laughed loudly, advancing upon her and as his bright blue eyes gleamed with satisfaction she gasped and her paws churned backwards, begging for some way to get out of the hell she then found herself in.

"A...Abiodun? It can't be..."

"But it is, dearest daughter! My dearest slave, it is I! And seeing as Sarafina has already submitted, you will be next..."

Sarabi's screams tore through the still air of day, and when at last Mufasa found his wife, the only thing to show a male had been there was the scents he left behind and a tuft of soft brown fur. Sarabi continued to cry hard into the evening, and as she and Sarafina made it to a water pool, they washed all the scent they could off and as they settled, moon shining down, she approached Mufasa and nudged his head. "Mufasa, can you gift me with your presence for the night? I want..._need_...your closeness. Please, my husband. I beg it of you."

He stared at her in shock, almost unable to believe what his ears heard. But soon they adjourned to an empty cave and spent their night with each other.

Two weeks later, Sarafina shared news that was shocking beyond belief. "Pregnant...oh, dear god. No, No. NO." Uru gasped, head bent in sadness in knowing the origins of this cub had been from that night, the seed coming from one Sarafina had known as a father, even if they were not relatives in blood.

Sarabi was very quiet, and then she stepped forward and grasped her step-sister protectively, lovingly. "We can be there for each other together. For I am pregnant too, from Mufasa." Gasps went up and Mufasa stared at her in wonder, as though something magical had happened, and she laughed and threw her head back, nudging him into a full-blown race and they spent the entire day chasing and being perfectly content with each other.

In the meantime, Scar had approached Sarafina and led her away from the pride.

Both lions and lionesses returned that night with Uru and Ahadi calling a meeting. "Dearest son, my eldest boy, my pride and joy... I gift to you a pride full of honor and loyalty, to stand by you and your queen until the last of your days, may that be years off and a peaceful time. Blessings, my New King. All Hail Mufasa! King of the Lands which expand before all to see!"

Mufasa stood stock-still, with shock in his features, as Uru moved forward with her husband's words and placed a ring of flowers around his mane, and stepped back, allowing Ahadi to pick up the second string of flowers and hold it in his teeth as Uru spoke, those eyes lighting up as she looked on to Sarabi with pride.

"Dearest Sarabi, it is with the greatest pride and pleasure I paw my share of my kingdom over to you knowing that you will show the same love, the same kindness, the same fairness in your decisions as I have these thirty-three years in my time of ruling. This land has many secrets to be exposed, and you will share all of them to my son, the way I have with Ahadi, and the same way the heirs before us have. We will always be there to guide you, and when you feel a gentle wind blow by your ears, whispering to you that I am here, it will be me. I have loved you as a daughter, and I trust you with much. There is no doubt in my mind you will be the greatest queen, and raise your sons or daughters with the same gentle-mindedness as I have found in you. Blessings my Queen. All Hail Queen Sarabi, Queen to these fair lands full of riches and pleasures."

Sarabi dipped her head and allowed her previous king to place the sacred blossoms atop her head. Tears pooled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks, and soon Sarabi was gasping and quivering with happiness for the first time in days. Remembering her place, however, she raised her head and nodded sharply to the Elder Queen. "I shall do my best to uphold the honors set before me. Thank you, Uru."

Sarafina waited until the talking and congratulations had ceased and she shyly spoke up, looking to Sarabi and bowing her head. "I've another piece of news...Taka has decided to...to claim..."

"I've decided to claim these cubs as my own. I've cared for Sarafina since she accompanied Queen Sarabi into our lands. We kept our forming relationship under wraps as we wished for Mufasa and Sarabi to be the ones holding attention. And we...wanted to take it slow. But she has given me a gift of cubs, a gift most precious that I would never have dreamed of. We ask to be wed immediately, My King."

Prince Scar dipped his head low and looked up with his eyes to his older brother. "I ask this of you, brother. I wish to bind myself to this lioness, for now and evermore. I intend to bring up her _-our-_ children up with the well-bred nature of a prince or princess. They will be mine, marriage or no. It doesn't matter. If we are not wed, I will say that we rushed into things out of wedlock. They will never know anything but my love. Please, Mufasa, my king, brother, and...and ally. I ask you honor not me, but Sarafina with this. Give her children a royal gift for birth. I will raise them right, as I did with the other young cubs of the middle generation. Brother? What do you say?"

As evening descended on the pride, wedding chimes were sung as Sarafina, white paints upon her forehead and dotting her eyes, smiled and kissed the Prince Taka underneath the veil of quickly made flowers. He boasted a dusty-golden paint which glittered in the coming moonlight. His light olive eyes shone brightly with the white circles painted around them, and his smile outdid itself. As the night wore down, and the excitement gave way to exhaust as dawn came and everybody at last trotted off to bed, Scar led the way to his own Prince's abode, and Sarabi and Mufasa made their way up the inclining peak to the top of Pride Rock, a smile never leaving Mufasa's face at the idea of fatherhood.

A little less than three months later, both Sarabi and Sarafina 'exiled' their husbands from the birthing cave and began their day-long struggle to bring their young into the world. Screams, groans and cries accompanied that cave for a few hours until the two males rushed in at the sound of tiny cries and the mandrills gave the a-okay for a male's entrance.

Mufasa was first inside, and what he saw made him stop. Uru was bent over Sarabi, who was sobbing and shaking, her head lowered as if in shame, and Sarafina glanced over at Sarabi with worry visible in her eyes. Clearing his throat, he walked over to his wife and kissed her cheek. "Sarabi...is everything alright, my wife? Are you feeling...okay? Are our cubs...alright?" He kept his gaze on her, and she gasped and turned away.

"Mufasa...you have a son. He's healthy as an antelope." Mufasa's heart leapt in his throat in excitement and he started to laugh. She had had him truly worried.

"Why so glum then, Sarabi? A son! An heir! This is so...I thought you said I had a son? As in, singular...so why are there two bodies by your paws?"

His mate flinched and she looked at her husband with tears streaming down her face. "This one...is Abiodun's son. My own father's son. My son...I'm so, so sorry Mufasa. I have failed you. As a wife, as your son's mother...and as a queen. I do not deserve my title."

Mufasa took the cub and gently licked it then turned to his shamed wife.

"Why...in the name of God...did you not tell me?"

"I was ashamed. I am sorry. But this little golden cub...was made from my love for you. I realized how good you were when I saw you throw yourself into that ditch and cry from the relief of looking and finding me. I thanked my mother for you, God rest her soul. I love you, Mufasa. It took me far too long to realize that."

Mufasa smiled at her response and looked at the light brown cub who was Sarabi's male twin. "I believe I can love this cub too. I will claim him-"

"NO!"

He stared at his wife who suddenly looked stressed and she shook her head. "No, don't. He is not yours, do not taint that royal blood. If you wish we raise him together then that's fine but I want it to be a story of my rouge sister left him in our care after we had our son. I do not wish to be his mother, in any sense of the word. I hope you can forgive me for that. I want to...to pawn him off on a female after he is weaned. Please? I beg it of you."

"Very well, Sarabi. As you wish. I believe...there was another couple gifted with children today, am I right? Scar? How did you and Sarafina fare with children?"

Scar lifted his face from Sarafina's nuzzle and grinned broadly. "Four little cubs. Three girls and a boy. We've names for them already. And you, 'Fasa? What shall your son and nephew be called?"

"Simba. My son is Simba. and my nephew...Tojo. What do you say, Sarabi?"

She nodded her approval and looked to her best friend and Sarafina giggled. "Our daughters, Nadra. Zira. And Nala. Our son, Zali. So beautiful, am I correct?"

And for one moment, all was at last peaceful; between brothers and sisters. But in the following months and years, things would slowly unravel.

A/N:

I am using human years in this story, so Mufasa is around 21 and Sarabi around 19 at their wedding date, Taka is, being Mufasa's littermate, also 21,and Sarafina is 18. At the end of this chpter, Muf is 24, Sarabi 22, Taka 245, and Sarafina 21. With all Sarabi and Sarafina have been through, however, they are far more mature, acting asd though in their thirties or even early forties.


End file.
